Dhanbad: Local residents are apprehensive of BCCL's plan to mine coal from under the area along the Dhanbad-Chandrapura railway line, fearing that that it would meet the fate of the Dhanbad-Jharia-Patherdih line that was shut down for similar purposes in 2005.

Ajay Jha, an old-time resident of Katras, said the issue was far more serious than made out to be. "We believe that everything was fixed between Bharat Coking Coal and the railways even before the closure of the Dhanbad-Chandrapura railway line on June 15, 2017 by citing the underground fire. No serious attempt has ever been made to douse the underground fire in order to tap coal," said the former chairman of Bokaro Industrial Area Development Authority.

Others cite the 2005 shutdown of the Dhanbad-Jharia-Patherdih railway line for 15 years to mine coal, but alleged that mining could not be carried out on most of the fire-affected sections till date.

Jha questioned the logic behind last month's survey of the Dhanbad-Chandrapura railway line carried out by senior officials of East Central Railway, including GM Lalit Chandra Trivedi and Additional GM Vidya Bhushan. "Yet at the same time, they are issuing statements regarding resuming train services on the railway line even as talks are being held between BCCL and railway for the handover of the land for mining," he said.

Acting president of Jharia Coalfield Bachao Samiti Ashok Agarwal also expressed serious doubts about the BCCL's claim of returning the land on which the Dhanbad-Chandrapura railway tracks have been laid after completing mining operations.

"If the Jharia-Patherdih, which was handed over to BC-CL way back in 2005 for 15 years is yet to be fully tapped, than how can we expect the area surrounding the Dhanbad-Chandrapura line to be returned to BCCL after completion of mining operations?" he said.

Agarwal asked the people of the district to launch agitation if they wanted to save the rail line. "The time has come for people to protest against such steps. Otherwise, like the Dhanbad-Jharia-Patherdih line and RSP College-Jharia the Dhanbad-Chandrapura line will also become history. Gradually, all of Jharia town will also be taken over by BCCL for mining," he said.

President of Federation of Dhanbad Zilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rajesh Kumar said they took exception at the state government's efforts to confuse people on the issue. "The Dhanbad-Chandrapura line was closed last year amid all kinds of statements with regard to the restoration of the railway track. Then suddenly, people came to know that the line would be handed over to BCCL for mining," he said.

Kumar also raised a fundamental question, something that all of Katras is asking. "Why wasn't an alternative rail line laid out before shutting down the Chandrapura line which was so crucial for local residents?" he said.